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Topic: Teach me prayers in Arabic (Read 47169 times)

Hey there... Is there anyone can help me with Arabic? I'm not exactly an Arab but I just love it when prayers are said in Arabic. The least I'd love to have is to at least learn how to pray some common prayers (from the Divine Liturgy, Matins, Vespers etc) in Arabic. Is there anyone?

While I cannot help you, I want to make this post as a *BUMP*, in order that your post receive the attention it deserves.

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"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."" Isaac Asimov

This should be easy to find, I have seen several prayer books with the services in English alongside phonetic Arabic, probably Melchite Greek Catholic or Antiochian Orthodox. Just check their websites out.

This should be easy to find, I have seen several prayer books with the services in English alongside phonetic Arabic, probably Melchite Greek Catholic or Antiochian Orthodox. Just check their websites out.

I would love to see this online if you have access to it. I've been looking for something like this for a long time.

well, i'm Egyptian actually, but i'm a coptic orthodox ; so i'm not sure i can help you with prayers of any EO liturgy, but other than that i can send you some prayers in Arabic and how they're pronounciated in English letters....but i need to now how much arabic do u know.

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"One nature out of two, a holy divinity, co-essential with the Father, an incorruptible.

A Holy humanity, begotten without seed, coessential with us, according to the economy."

I would love to see this online if you have access to it. I've been looking for something like this for a long time.

I honestly wouldn't put much hope in that. Arabic is a tricky language to transliterate and transcribe, and with the exception perhaps of some publications that aim at teaching somebody the complicated phonetics of Arabic, most transliterations/transcriptions of Arabic out there in print and online are terribly sloppy.

Doing the same with forms of colloquial Arabic is probably even more frustrating, given the varying forms of 'a' out there, and the existence of vowels (in our area, originating in the Aramaic substratum of the Arabic dialects spoken there) that are not there in Modern Standard Arabic.

I wrote this long ago in one of the forum threads: the Lord's Prayer as said in the Melchite and Antiochian Orthodox churches (each uses its own form). I made some corrections to the notes as well.

___________________________________

Consider this the definitive version (versions in fact; I'll provide both the Orthodox and the Melchite formsof the prayer), but first a detailed pronunciation guide from myself:

'Kh' is the Greek Χ, or more accurately, the broader, rougher Scottish 'ch' (Loch Ness)'Gh' is the French 'r', somewhat similar to the Greek Γ'Q' is a 'rolled' (my word) version of 'k', that originates from deep down in the throat, a voiceless uvularplosive that is perhaps the most difficult of Arabic consonants for the foreigner to pronounce.

Short/long vowel pairs:A/AA [Fat(h)ah/Alif] Greek Α (The short consonant may sometimes sound like the 'u' in 'cub', as in Rab,meaning Lord.)U/OO [(D)am'ma/Waaw] Greek ΟΥ (the 'oo' in 'moon')I/EE [Kasra/Yaa'] Greek Η (the 'ee' in 'seen')

N.B. Some vowels at the end of words, written as long vowels in script, will still be pronounced short.These are written as short vowels in the transliteration.

Parenthesised letters are 'rolled' (my word), emphatic consonants (they become velarised or pharyngealisedby retraction of the root of the tongue).

The paranthesised (h), however, is a consonant that sounds like an exhaled breath. Pharyngeal, voiceless,and aspirated.

'Th' is that in 'though', '(th)' (in parenthesis) is its rolled equivalent, and 'th' (underlined), is that of 'thorn',meaning the Greek letter Θ.

The hyphen indicates the joining of the article 'the' with a word. It has the same effect on pronunciation asthe apostrophe, described later onward.

`, as opposed to a regular apostrophe ', is the consonant `ayn (or `ein, as some prefer to write it). I still do not know how to describe it adequately, except that it is, I believe, a voiced pharyngeal fricative.

The apostrophe indicates a normal glottal start/stop, except when it exists between two identicalconsonants, in which case it indicates that the word should be pronounced as two different words (with nosignificant pause in between and with the last letter of the first 'word' held until the next letter ispronounced). So rad'did is pronounced rad did (without pause or letting go of the first 'd') and not radid.

Where the two prayers diverge from one another, the bold text is the Orthodox version:

Important note: Levantine Christians (namely Syrians and Lebanese) sometimes tend to retainidiosyncrasies of their vernacular dialects when pronouncing the classical Fu(s)(h)ah Arabic, namelypronouncing the 'th' (that of 'though') as a 'z', and the 'th' of 'thorn' as an 's'. Therefore, you will hear thepeople in church say -- from the first line of the prayer -- al-lazi, instead of al-lathi. This is just plainwrong, and more especially so when the same is applied to what is chanted in Greek ('Agios Asanatos', 'OSeos Imon': *shudder*), and so I will retain the classical letters 'th' and 'th' in the transliterations. (A tip ofthe hat to the Jordanians for doing things properly.)

Also, in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines, the final 'a' of the last word of each is sometimes omitted. I keep thesehere.

Well, i kinda got the idea of what happens in Arabic since most Arab words are used in Malay. Nevertheless, SamB, thank you for giving me a comprehensive 101 list on basic Christian phrases in Arabic.

For now, while I'm not good on pronouncing, I would like though, if someone would romanise the texts for:-

i) Good Friday Lamentationsii) The Creediii) a portion of the Ektenia- Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, we pray to You, hear us and have mercy.- Have mercy on us, O God in your great mercy; we pray to You, hear us and have mercy.

Here's the Creed for now (Byzantine Orthodox version--the Creed varies in wording slightly from one Christian faction to the next). Keep in mind that with certain words, the last syllable is not always pronounced, and so there can always be some minor differences when hearing more than one recitation.

Collin, I'm sorry to tell you that I am not able to give you fully what you asked for concerning the Lamentations. These, what the videos are playing, are the second and third stanzas of the Burial Dirges of the Burial Matins service Friday evening of Holy Week, as you can tell from the melodies. Text-wise, there are numerous verses, 62 and 48 respectively, that belong to each stanza, and not all these are chanted in the service. My Arabic and English liturgical books contain only a small portion of them all. On the matter of transliterations, many of the verses sung are not found in the Arabic books I have, and though my ear can pick up many words from these verses through the video clip, I cannot pick up everything from a verse to give an accurate transliteration, and so Arabic text is required if I am to manage this. I will post what I do have, however. As for English translations, the verses are either not found in my English book by the late Archbishop Joseph Raya or in the book are a bit too far off as English translations of the Arabic for them to be worth posting. Rather than attempt to translate poetic liturgical verses for you myself, I'd rather reference an English text online and make small adjustments if needed. I would even be able in that case to give you translations for some verses I will not have managed to transliterate for you.

Does anybody know where I can find the text of the Lamentations service, with as many of the verses written down as one can expect to find? Googling has not helped me so far.

Here's what I was able to transliterate for you from the second stanza (the first video). If I find the Lamentations in English online, I can provide you with the corresponding English verses. I will give you what I have of the third stanza a bit later; I have a hunch I might have more luck with that one.

I'll look to see about on line resources, but right now I have only my services books (in Arabic). Since our local St. George's prints out most of the services in Arabic and English for the congregation, I might be able to get something I can post. The Arabic, though, will be Arabic script.

I'm curious, how is "sayf" a Christian word?

« Last Edit: November 25, 2007, 07:22:20 PM by ialmisry »

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

I'll look to see about on line resources, but right now I have only my services books (in Arabic). Since our local St. George's prints out most of the services in Arabic and English for the congregation, I might be able to get something I can post. The Arabic, though, will be Arabic script.

Isa,

Is the Arabic script hard to learn? I've been wanting to learn it for a while.

There is a a excellent book with DVDs, "Alif Baa" by Kristen Brustad et alia, ($40) from the university of Georgetown press. There's also a helpful little booklet "Pocket Guide to Arabic Script" by Fayeq Oweis, at Hippocrene Press which is EXCELLENT, and only $7.

No, I don't get a kick back from my cousin for plugging them, so I'm hopping I'm not breaking any forum rules.

Btw, you can take a look at the standard (protestant) Arabic translation on biblos.com The instructions are all in English.

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

I'll look to see about on line resources, but right now I have only my services books (in Arabic). Since our local St. George's prints out most of the services in Arabic and English for the congregation, I might be able to get something I can post. The Arabic, though, will be Arabic script.

I'm curious, how is "sayf" a Christian word?

Isa, since Collin asked for a transcription, I think he might not be able to read the script, and certainly not without diacritics in any case, if he doesn't know the language.

However, here's a suggestion:

I've already transcribed a good chunk of those Lamentation prayers. The verses I couldn't account for in my book and could not catch in full by ear are marked by question marks in the last few posts. How about you listen to those videos yourself, and while doing so and following my transcription verse-by-verse in the proper order I've listed, stop at points in the recording where the unidentified verses play, listen to them and pick up what you can by ear and then consult your book? If you find that a verse in your book corresponds to what you are hearing and can identify it, simply send it to me in Arabic script in a message and I will transcribe.

As for the English, if you find anything in your books that is a fairly accurate translation of the Arabic prayers, by all means post it.

Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see the instructions on that site. Can you be more specific?

I meant if you go in the upper left, you can call up a chapter/verse. If you press on Arabic on the left (with the green, white and red crescent flag of Algeria), you'll get the Arabic translation. Or you can go on the multilingual version, go to the upper left, get the individual verse, and it will have the Arabic (and others).

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

Isa, since Collin asked for a transcription, I think he might not be able to read the script, and certainly not without diacritics in any case, if he doesn't know the language.

However, here's a suggestion:

I've already transcribed a good chunk of those Lamentation prayers. The verses I couldn't account for in my book and could not catch in full by ear are marked by question marks in the last few posts. How about you listen to those videos yourself, and while doing so and following my transcription verse-by-verse in the proper order I've listed, stop at points in the recording where the unidentified verses play, listen to them and pick up what you can by ear and then consult your book? If you find that a verse in your book corresponds to what you are hearing and can identify it, simply send it to me in Arabic script in a message and I will transcribe.

As for the English, if you find anything in your books that is a fairly accurate translation of the Arabic prayers, by all means post it.

I'll see what I can do. the question is when. school starts up again tommorrow.

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

Is the Arabic script hard to learn? I've been wanting to learn it for a while.

In addition to the materials that Isa gave you, I found The Arab Alphabet-How To Read & Write It by Nicholas Awde and Putros Samano very excellent. Back when I was trying to learn Arabic, I found this book very, very helpfull.

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"The Scots-Irish; Brewed in Scotland, bottled in Ireland, uncorked in America." ~Scots-Irish saying

I meant if you go in the upper left, you can call up a chapter/verse. If you press on Arabic on the left (with the green, white and red crescent flag of Algeria), you'll get the Arabic translation. Or you can go on the multilingual version, go to the upper left, get the individual verse, and it will have the Arabic (and others).

Ah—for some reason I thought you meant instructions on how to read the Arabic script, probably because we were talking about it. Here I was thinking "What a good find!"

Dear brothersif you are interested in listening to prayers in arabic you can watch CTV hotbird this is the channel of coptic church actually speaking in arabic also some programs are translayed to englishanother channel is aghapy tv telestar 12 both channels are coptic orthodox church channels they broadcast prayers liturgies hymns pope discours and many other but i find that ctv is more interesting they contain also coptic hymns specially this months the hymns of kiahk which are in both lunguages arabic and coptic and some hymns are in old greek if you hear something and want to be translated write and i ll try to translate in jesus montasser

btw, for the first, often "al-ilaahi-l-waaHid. aamiin" the One God Amen is added after "Holy Spirit."

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

' is a glottal stop or geminate marker (but ` is the pharyngeal consonant mentioned already before). D, S, and T (capital letters) are pharngealised versions of regular 'd', 's', and 't' respectively. Θ is the 'th' in 'thorn'. Gh is the equivalent of the German or French 'r', and 'kh' is the velar 'ch' in 'Loch Ness'

Al'majdu laka yaa Al'laahulmajdu lak

That's a literal translation of what you requested but the proper form at the end there is yaa ilaahana wa rajaa'ana or O our God and our Hope.